Heavy Fighting Reported on Ethiopian Border with Eritrea

June 19, 2016

Heavy Fighting Reported on Ethiopian Border with Eritrea

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from Global Information Network

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – In a region that once saw the one of the bloodiest wars in African history, claiming thousands of lives between 1998 and 2000, the sounds of fighting were heard again this week on Sunday with heavy artillery reported close to a civilian area, according to multiple sources.

The Eritrean army is reportedly moving mechanized units to the heavy fighting area and Ethiopia might have mobilized some of its mechanized divisions towards the skirmish area.

Ethiopia's Information Minister Getachew Reda described the clashes as "an Eritrean initiative" while the Eritrean government said that Ethiopia had "unleashed" the attack. “The Eritrean action was met by an overwhelming force", said Mr. Getachew adding that "Fighting was heavy enough to result in significant damage to Eritrean forces... which will hopefully make it think twice about its dangerous moves.”

A peace deal in 2000 ended the countries' two-year war border war but it has not been fully implemented.

Ever since, the countries have been in a state of "neither war nor peace", says the BBC's Ethiopia correspondent Emmanuel Igunza.

It's not clear why the fighting has erupted now, says Igunza, “but in recent months both sides have upped the rhetoric with the latest verbal salvo coming from Eritrea's President Isaias Afwerki during celebrations to mark 25 years of the country's independence.”

Whatever the details, correspondent Simon Allison wrote in the South African online Daily Maverick, “it is undeniable that these latest skirmishes come at a time for both governments when the beating of the war drums might distract observers from other, more embarrassing stories.”

He cited a recent U.N. report that detailed dire human rights abuses in Eritrea.

“Eritrea is an authoritarian state. There is no independent judiciary, no national assembly and there are no other democratic institutions in Eritrea. This has created a governance and rule of law vacuum, resulting in a climate of impunity for crimes against humanity to be perpetrated over a quarter of a century,” said Mike Smith, chair of the U.N. commission.

Ethiopia, similarly, has come under fire for the recent beating its troops received in Somalia from al-Shabaab militants.

The attack raises uncomfortable questions about what Ethiopian troops are really doing in Somalia, and what exactly they have achieved while there, Allison wrote.

Members of the Ethiopian and Eritrean diasporic communities are weighing in on the conflict.

Longtime peace activist and publisher Kassahun Checole penned the following:

“Dear Peace and Justice Loving People of our region,

It has been confirmed that conflict has started between Eritrean and Ethiopian troupes at the border. The clashes may escalate into major and catastrophic war. If we remember, more than 100,000 innocent lives were lost in the war that was fought in 1998. Both peoples in Ethiopia and Eritrea have no interest in this war. It will simply enhance the existing repressive situation in both countries and will deprive people of the opportunity of leading decent lives for decades to come…

“Therefore, I call upon all civil groups and justice-loving people from both countries to denounce this meaningless war and to mobilize the public against it.”

“Let's say NO TO WAR! and to the DRUM BEATS OF WAR!”

One in 500 African-Americans Still Living With Sickle Cell Disease By Florence Neal Cooper-Smith

June 19, 2016

One in 500 African-Americans Still Living With Sickle Cell Disease
By Florence Neal Cooper-Smith

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Courtesy Photo: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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Courtesy Photo:P Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Richmond Free Press

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is a group of inherited red blood cell disorders. The disease causes red blood cells to function abnormally. The cells become rigid and curve into sickle shapes. The red blood cells become hard and sticky and they die early, which causes a constant shortage of red blood cells.

The sickle shape makes it difficult for the cells to flow through tiny blood vessels and blocks the flow of blood and oxygen to vital organs of the body. These blockages can cause repeated episodes of severe pain, organ damage, strokes, serious infections and other medical complications.

A person with SCD is born with the disorder. It is not contagious. People cannot catch the disorder by being around a person who has it. Healthy parents, each having inherited a sickle cell gene from their parent, has the probability of passing the gene to their offspring.

It is estimated that SCD affects 90,000 to 100,000 people in the United States, mainly African-Americans. One in 500 African-Americans is living with the disease and one in 36,000 Hispanic-Americans are born with the disease.

Since Virginia added hemoglobinopathy screening to its newborn testing in 1989, on average 75 newborns have been identified yearly with SCD in the state. Many parents do not know that they have the sickle cell trait. Testing people of child-bearing age is very important, as well as prenatal women.

Nationally, the sickle cell trait occurs in approximately one in 12 African-Americans. Approximately 3 million people living in the United States have the trait and many are unaware of their status. Medical treatment, management and care have made great strides since Congress passed the 1972 Sickle Cell Anemia Control Act, but we have not found the cure.

Research continues at many universities throughout the world as we try to “Break the Sickle Cycle.” Virginia Commonwealth University’s medical campus has many research projects that receive some grant founding. Family, friends, organizations, churches and corporations are needed to help spread awareness about SCD. Blood, bone marrow and financial donations will help Break the Sickle Cycle.

Sunday, June 19, was World Sickle Cell Day 2016. let us offer a prayer that soon and very soon we will break the sickle cell cycle.

Florence Neal Cooper-Smith is retired director of the Sickle Cell Anemia Awareness Program at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. The Florence Neal Cooper Smith Sickle Cell $1 Million Research Project is supported by the MCV Foundation.

What Really Matters? By James Clingman

June 19, 2016

Blackonomics

What Really Matters?
By James Clingman

clingman

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - In 1991, Latasha Harlins was shot in the back of her head and killed by Soon Ja Du, a Korean store owner in Los Angeles, who received a $500.00 fine, 400 hours of community service, and five years’ probation, from Judge Joyce Karlin, who ignored the penalty of 16 years in prison for voluntary manslaughter. Du received no prison time for her callous act of murder—execution style—of a 15-year-old Black girl, over a $1.79 container of orange juice. This case and the outrage it brought foreshadowed the L.A. civil unrest now known as the Rodney King Riot in 1992.

Harkening back to the Harlins’ case, I think about the fact that here in 2016, Black lives really don’t matter to some police officers, prosecutors, judges, and other Black folks. Preserving Latasha’s life was not worth $1.79, and to add insult to injury the person who killed her only had to pay a $500.00 fine.

Since that time thousands of Black men, women, and children have been killed, 1134 by police officers in 2015, according to The Guardian. In Chicago alone there have been 1454 shootings and 279 killed as of June 2016, 207 of whom were Black. So just who are we trying to convince that Black lives matter, other than politicians? And if Black lives matter, how much do they matter, how much are they worth?

We have recently seen millions of dollars being paid to victims’ families, but it pales in comparison to the number of lives lost. Just the Black men and women killed by police, if divided into those millions of public dollars—tax dollars—the individual amounts would be embarrassing and insulting, just as in Latasha Harlins’ case. But who cares? Right?

If members of any other group in this country were being killed at the same rate as Black folks are being killed, there would be a collective outrage and indignation such that the problem would be addressed, if not solved, almost immediately.

Moreover, on the economic side of things, just look at the Orlando shootings. Four days after that tragedy $4 million was raised for the victims, and all we hear in the news reports is advocacy for the “LGBT community.” When have we heard so much sympathy and advocacy for Black folks on those news shows? When have we raised significant amounts of money for Black victims? When have we seen LGBT news reporters take commercial breaks in order to shed tears for Black victims? If Tamir Rice didn’t make that happen, nothing will.

Money is pouring into Orlando from private corporations, in part because LBGT’s are willing to leverage their dollars in return for corporate support. (Don’t be mad at them; that’s what we should be doing) The Orlando Magic, Disney, the Florida baseball teams, and Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, have given money and other support in the aftermath of the latest shootings. Over the past three years, we have also seen corporations use their power to affect political change on behalf of LGBT’s. Yet corporations, despite earning much of their profit from Black consumers, did virtually nothing for Eric Garner’s family, Sandra Bland’s family, John Crawford’s family, or Ezell Ford’s family. Why not?

Politically speaking, while 20 bullet-riddled bodies of children in Sandy Hook couldn’t move them, politicians will surely act now on gun law legislation because many of those killed in Orlando were LGBT, the NRA notwithstanding. What if that had been a Black club?

So, do our lives matter? And who are we trying to convince that they do matter? First, our lives must matter to us. We must be just as willing to bring our causes to the forefront as gay people and other groups are. We should see red, black, and green colors everywhere when we are killed or aggrieved. No one else is going to do that for us, so we must do it for ourselves. Are we afraid? Ashamed? Apathetic?

Where does this leave Black people? Latasha Harlins, Tamir Rice, and all of those killed in between and since, are calling out from their graves for us to respond appropriately to what happened to them. Our charge is to make our lives matter to us, first and foremost, and then show a united front to this nation that we will not be relegated to a subordinate class and continue to be ignored, dismissed, and trampled upon by groups that continually parlay our misery into their benefit. Until other groups begin to support us the way we have supported them in this country throughout history, we must commit ourselves to a “Never Again” approach and take charge of our own destiny, our own causes, and our own security.

The only Black things that matter are dollars and votes, so why not leverage them to get what we want?

Ebony and Jet Magazines Have Been Sold By Frederick H. Lowe

June 19, 2016

Ebony and Jet Magazines Have Been Sold

By Frederick H. Lowe

John H. Johnson, founder of Ebony and Jet magazines.

Ebony Magazine cover with Jackie Robinson

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from NorthStarNewsToday.com

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Johnson Publishing Co. of Chicago has sold Ebony and Jet magazines for an undisclosed price to Clear View Group LLC, an Austin, Texas-based private equity firm, to pay down debt and to concentrate on Fashion Fair Cosmetics.

“This deal allows JPC to reduce its debt associated with the media business and focus its attention on the archives and continue to invest in its cosmetics business, Fashion Fair Cosmetics,” company officials said in a series of quotes and unattributed statements but not a news release printed on the company’s letterhead announcing the sale of Ebony and Jet.

The deal, which was signed in May and disclosed Tuesday, includes the assumption of JPC’s debt. It also continues the dismantling of Johnson Publishing Co., an iconic black-owned business founded in 1942 by brilliant entrepreneur John H. Johnson with the publication of “Negro Digest.” Mr. Johnson died in 2005. Even the name Johnson Publishing Co. may eventually disappear.

The company once owned a book division and a radio station. Mr. Johnson also was chairman of Supreme Life Insurance Co.

In 2010, Columbia College of Chicago purchased for its library Johnson Publishing Company’s 11-story headquarters on Chicago’s South Michigan Avenue .

Johnson Publishing sold the building to pay down debt, mostly owed to RR Donnelley, the Chicago-based printing company. Ebony and Jet magazines moved out of its headquarters in 2012 and Columbia College never moved in. Now the building, which was Mr. Johnson’s pride and joy, is again up for sale. The company is still trying to sell its archival photo collection.

To shore its sagging finances, JPC took on a big partner. JP Morgan Chase, the nation’s largest and the world’s ninth largest bank based on assets, is the company’s part owner.

Mr. Johnson founded Ebony, a monthly magazine, in 1945 and Jet, a popular pocketbook size news weekly with short one-paragraph stories in 1951. Jet published in every weekly issue a centerfold of scantly clad black woman, which was popular with readers. Jet, a quick read, is now sold only online. When blacks mention a black news magazine, they first mention Jet.

Ebony, however, was JPC’s moneymaker.

Its initial run of 25,000 copies quickly sold out. At one time Ebony was on the coffee tables of every black home in America. It reported on African American life ignored by the white press. Ebony still has a monthly circulation of 9.3 million, according to the company’s website.

Lately, Ebony and Jet have struggled against digital competitors. The deal to sell Ebony and Jet to Clear View Group follows a rumored failed attempt by businessman and former Los Angeles Laker star Erving “Magic” Johnson to buy the company and to move it to Los Angeles.

Ebony and Jet will become part of Ebony Media, which will be based in Chicago. Linda Rice Johnson will serve as chairman emeritus and a board member of Ebony Media.

“We are excited about the future of Ebony Media and the opportunity to position the enterprise for long term growth,” Michael Gibson, CEO of Clear View Group and chairman of Ebony Media, said in a statement. “Our team has a true understanding of the Ebony brand as well as its legacy, and is committed to providing its audience with premium content across all media platforms.”

Clear View Group was reportedly based in Austin but the company was not listed online and it couldn’t be found through Austin telephone directory assistance.

After several calls to an outside company spokeswoman, she said the firm’s telephone number is 713-513-7141. The number, however, doesn’t answer Clear View Group. The company’s email is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., and its website is http://clearviewgroupllc.com. It looks hastily put together. I logged onto the website and learned the business has a second office in Houston. The company’s proper name is Clear View Group LLC, which was not mentioned in the news release, the spokeswoman admitted.

Clear View Group specializes in private equity acquisitions of U.S. based, middle market companies, company officials said in a news release.

Johnson Publishing Co. will continue to invest in Fashion Fair Cosmetics, which was founded by Eunice Johnson, JPC’s cofounder, in 1973. But the company may drop JPC’s name.

Desiree Rogers, JPC’s CEO, will focus on Fashion Fair Cosmetics.

Pray for Peace and Work for Justice By Marc H. Morial

June 19, 2016

Pray for Peace and Work for Justice

By Marc H. Morial

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - “Of all the rocks upon which we build our lives, we are reminded today that family is the most important. And we are called to recognize and honor how critical every father is to that foundation. They are teachers and coaches. They are mentors and role models. They are examples of success and the men who constantly push us toward it.” – President Barack Obama

To become a parent, it is often said, is to allow your heart to go walking around outside your body.

In many ways, the essence of fatherhood is protection. As fathers, our most basic instinct is to protect our children. As children, our fathers are the ones we seek when we ourselves need protection. That responsibility weighs especially heavily for Black fathers in a time when divisive rhetoric seems out of control and the threat of violence looms heavily over our communities.

These fears are not unique to our generation, however. And because we cannot change the world to oblige our children, we must raise our children to navigate this world.

There are as many theories about raising strong, capable and well-adjusted children as there are parents. “Tough love,” “helicoptering,” “free range” … but one thing matters above all else – that children know they are loved. As the theme of a popular adoption campaign goes: You don’t have to be perfect to be a perfect parent.

I was fortunate to have a father who is a hero and role model, not only for my brother and sisters and myself, but for the city he served as mayor, judge, and civil rights trailblazer. It is his example I strive to follow a civil rights leader and – more importantly – as a father. But make no mistake, as fathers, do as much to shape the future by reading a bedtime story or helping with homework as we do testifying before Congress or presiding over a courtroom.

For the second year in a row, we celebrate Father’s Day in the wake of senseless tragedy as we mourn the 50 souls who were lost in the hateful mass shooting in Orlando on Sunday. Last year, Father’s Day was marred by the racially-inspired murders at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C.

It is our responsibility as fathers, as sons, and as brothers to rise up against the intolerance that fuels this violence, to quell the angry rhetoric that spurs it on, and to cut off the easy access to high-powered weaponry that enables it. As Pope Paul VI – Il Papa, the Holy Father, said, “If you want peace, work for justice.”

I wish a blessed and happy Father’s Day to all families. Let us cherish our parents, our grandparents, our children and grandchildren, and give thanks the love we are so fortunate to share.